May 21, 2021

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) has therefore directed that an Accident Investigation Board be constituted to unravel the immediate and remote cause(s) of the unfortunate accident.

The Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, Gen. Lucky Irabor, and other Nigerians have called for an investigation into the air crash that claimed the lives of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru and 10 others on Friday.

This is even as President Muhammadu Buhari has received briefing from Minister of Defence, Maj Gen Bashir Magashi, accompanied by the Chief of Defence, General LEO Irabor, Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Isiaka Oladayo Amao and others on the Air force plane crash.

The CDS said that the Accident Investigation Board is expected to unravel the immediate and remote cause(s) of the unfortunate air accident.

The Acting Director, Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

Nwachukwu said that the unfortunate incident occurred after landing at the Kaduna International Airport due to inclement weather.

“The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) has therefore directed that an Accident Investigation Board be constituted to unravel the immediate and remote cause(s) of the unfortunate accident.

“As we pray for the repose of the souls of our gallant and committed Chief of Army Staff and other personnel on board with him, the AFN solicits the support and understanding of all Nigerians in the face of this tragic incident.

“We wish to state that the Armed Forces of Nigeria remains resolute in combating the security challenges bedeviling our nation.

“The sacrifices of our dearly departed heroes will not be in vain,” he said.

He also reassured all Nigerians of the commitment and loyalty of the Armed Forces of Nigeria to the Constitution and Government in the discharge of its responsibilities.

Hours after the incident, Nigerians have taken to social media to call for investigation to ascertain whether the crash was human induced or as a result of technical glitch.

Some Nigerian excavated the dialogue between the COAS and the House of Representatives Committee probing the purchase of arms and other military hardware in the course of the fight against Boko Haram terrorist group.

During his appearance  before the committee, the COAS pointedly deflected questions on the purchase of arms, instead he asked the committee to invite the persons who made the purchases as he was not in a position to make purchases at the time of the procurements in contention.

Recall that in 2018, President Buhari, worried by the resurgence of Boko Haram activities after the Presidency claimed they had been technically defeated, approved the hefty sum of $1 billion for the procurement of more sophisticated arms by the Defence authorities.

However, there had been grumbling among security personnel especially those in the frontline of the war against terror, that not much military hardware were procured with the money. Inside source said equipment where purchased, were over invoiced. Other complaints that trailed the expenditure of $1 billion was that some of the equipment were refurbished and passed off as new ones.

There were strong hints within the security circuit that Monguno may order an investigation into the deal as the amount expended does not match the equipment purchased. The purchase of arms has remained a sore point in the nation’s military annals in recent years. The NSA, however, has not given any hint to that effect, neither does his body language suggest imminent investigation of the arms purchase deal under the previous set of service chiefs.

On April 12, this year, while appearing before the House of Reps Ad hoc committee, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, told the House Committee probing the Purchase, Use and Control of Arms, Ammunition and Related Hardware by Military, Paramilitary and Other Law Enforcement Agencies in Nigeria to invite his predecessors to shed more light on the arms procurement.

While responding to queries raised by the committee for him to give details on the military hardware purchases by the military, the COAS bluntly told the House Ad hoc Committee to invite the persons who made the purchases, explaining that all the purchases under scrutiny were done by individuals.

Though Attahiru did not mention names, but a list of his predecessors include the likes of Lt-Gen Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd) who was the COAS between September 2010 – January 2014;  Lt-Gen Kenneth Minimah (rtd) who was the COAS between January 2014 – July 2015 and Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai (rtd), the longest serving COAS in recent history with over five years under his belt.

House insiders said the report presented to the Ad Hoc committee heavily pointed to Buratai era as the period many questionable hardware purchases were made. It was learnt that some top military officers were miffed at the way the purchases were made. This may explain the hardline toed by Army chief, Attahiru, that the committee rather than heckle him for what he did not know about and was never part of, should invite the individuals who made the purchases.

When pressed by the committee to give further explanation to his report before them, Attahiru  intoned: “The summation before you speaks to the report before you, it is an executive summary, it is self-explanatory…because when you demanded for this report you stated specifically the areas from which you wanted this report.

“You may wish to recall that the COAS (referring to himself) took over the mantle of leadership barely two months ago. The period from which you wanted this report, having been summarised in the Executive summary explains whatever details you will require. Issues of procurement that you so demand to know were done by specific individuals.

“I will rather you call these individuals to come and explain to you very specific issues. The general issue has been contained in the report and the summary and the other executive summary is so contained, it goes to speak about the entire report and it explains it.”